Files land in a folder.
Tidewell files them.
Your Downloads folder fills up. Every tool that fixes it can also destroy it. Tidewell is built the other way round — the engine has no delete anywhere in it.
Homebrew compiles Tidewell on your Mac, so macOS never quarantines it and there is nothing to click past.
Or download the app
v0.1.0-beta.2 · 29 Aug 2026 · pre-release · release notes · checksums
Downloaded builds are not notarised, so macOS will refuse to open Tidewell until you allow it in System Settings › Privacy & Security. Notarisation needs a paid Apple membership this project does not have — the checksums above let you verify the build instead.
macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon and Intel · free and open source
What it will never do
It cannot delete your files
The one type allowed to touch the filesystem can create a folder and move a file. That is the whole of its vocabulary. A test greps the engine and fails the build if a delete ever appears.
It shows you first
Every run can be previewed — every file, where it would go, and why anything is being left alone.
Everything is reversible
Because nothing is destroyed, undo is just another move. Both ends of every move are recorded.
It never touches folders
Only loose files. Your own folders are left exactly as they are, and nothing recurses.
It waits for downloads
A file still being written is sampled twice and skipped. Partial downloads are never moved mid-flight.
Nothing leaves your Mac
There is no network code in the app at all. CI fails the build if any is added.
How it works
Pick some folders. Tidewell watches them and files what arrives — into subfolders of that same folder. Nothing leaves the folder it landed in.
Category
Images/
Documents/
Archives/
Extension
PNG/
PDF/
ZIP/
Category, then month
Documents/2026-08/
Images/2026-08/
Name rules come first
A pattern like day-sheet-* → Day Sheets is checked before file type. This matters more than it sounds: twenty-three day-sheet PDFs are all “Documents” by type, which is true and useless.
Duplicates are set aside
A file byte-identical to one already filed goes to Duplicates/ rather than being filed twice. Detected by SHA-256 of the contents, so a file that merely shares a name is filed normally. Never deleted.
Old files can be archived
Files untouched past an age you choose move to Archive/YYYY-MM. The sweep only looks inside folders Tidewell itself created — never your own.
Six starting points
Including Caretaker, which files nothing at all and only handles duplicates and staleness — for folders that already work the way you want.
It can read documents it can’t name
Optional · off by defaultA file called scan_001.pdf tells you nothing, and no rule can help — the name is all a rule has. On macOS 26 with Apple silicon, Tidewell can read the first page on your Mac and file it properly.
| File | Without | With |
|---|---|---|
| scan_001.pdf | Documents/ | Invoices/ |
| IMG_4821.png | Images/ | Receipts/ |
| document.pdf | Documents/ | Contracts/ |
- Nothing is uploaded — the model runs on your Mac.
- Tidewell never downloads a model; macOS manages that.
- The model picks one word from a fixed list, never a folder path.
- Only for files whose name says nothing.
- Skipped on low power or when your Mac is hot.
- Turning it off forgets everything it learned.
How it compares
Hazel is more capable than Tidewell and has been for fifteen years. If you want a full rule engine and don’t mind paying, buy Hazel. Tidewell is for people who want the folder tidied without handing an automated tool the ability to delete things.
| Hazel | Forel | Tidewell | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $42 | Free | Free |
| Open source | no | yes | yes |
| Preview before acting | no | no | always |
| Undo a run | partial | no | every run |
| Can delete your files | yes | yes | never |
| Duplicate detection | no | no | yes |
| Files leave your Mac | no | no | no |
| Reads document contents | no | no | on-device |
Questions
Is it safe to point at my Downloads folder?
Preview it first — the button is right there, and nothing moves until you say so.
What if it files something wrongly?
Undo the run. Both ends of every move are recorded, and nothing was deleted.
Why does the download show a security warning?
It is not notarised, which needs a paid Apple Developer membership this project does not have. Installing with Homebrew compiles it on your Mac and has no warning at all.
Does it phone home?
No. There is no network code in the app, and the build fails if any is added.
Can I make it delete duplicates?
No. It sets them aside in a Duplicates folder for you to decide. That is the point.
Does it work without Apple Intelligence?
Yes — everything except document reading, which is optional and off by default.